Staying close

 Staying close

Staying close she didn’t wander

Far beyond the Sligo streets

Nestled in a house which welcomed bells 

From the nearby Friary

That pealed upon the hour 

Night and day, day and night. 

Nothing happened very much

A staid and peaceful life

Her footprint light and gentle.

Was she right or was she wrong

To make no waves or noise?

Living quietly on cobbled streets

That hadn’t changed in decades. 

Her friends from school got married

Many left to find fortune or a husband

Up in Dublin or in far off London 

But envy did not walk her road 

Happy she with a life lived

In the shadows of the church

Whence the bells rang on the hour. 

When her time comes she is mourned

By a tight circle of friends who share

Her fear of the limelight 

Her grave is tended in the graveyard

Overlooking the Bay at the foot of the hills

That rise over slumbering Sligo

Early on a cold April morning.